Tuesday morning after Lolly got off the bus, Trevor waved at his friends and lead her inside to a quiet place near the office. He seemed a little nervous. Lolly felt her own heart begin to thud. A question was about to be asked and she had no idea how she was going to answer it. First he cleared his throat, then his eyes darted from side to side and finally came to rest on her face. He said, “I was wondering if you would like to go out with me on Saturday night. Would you?”

The expression on his face was one of fear and anticipation.

She replied, “I would love to.”

A huge smile spread across his face. His eyes lit up. “Great, what would you like to do?”

His reaction threw her. She had not expected him to have such a strong reaction, she should have chosen her words more carefully. As for the what she would like to do? What she would like to do was not have to say, what she was going to have to say. “Um, well.” Her throat went promptly dry.

He raised his eyebrows.

“Uh, there is a slight hitch.” She felt and heard the next words come out of her mouth at an amazingly slow pace. Each one seemed to get caught in her throat just before it tumbled out of her mouth. His smile disappeared.

He asked, “Seriously, your grandma won’t let you date until you are sixteen?”

“She won’t.”

“What about your dad?”

This change in tactics surprised Lolly. It had never occurred to her to even ask Pa about dating. She had always assumed he felt the same way Grandma Toady did. In fact, as a man who had once been a teenage boy, she bet he would prefer she didn’t date at all. Besides, Grandma Toady and Pa had a hard rule of sticking together when it came to matters that concerned her. She said, “Nope.”

Trevor’s shoulders slumped. His lip jutted out ever so slightly. His eyes turned to a distant window. It occurred to Lolly, that Trevor was probably used to getting his way. Was he mad? Several silent moments passed between them. Finally he said, “What if you and Lisa met Jake and me at the Putt Putt course on Saturday night?”

Unsure if she was supposed to tell Grandma Toady that she would be meeting him, she said, “I’ll have to ask.”

His expression was incredulous. “Why?”

Now, she was getting irritated. Lolly was a rule follower, unless she thought a rule was ridiculous, she followed it. She also respected Grandma Toady. She said, “Because, I just do. She might be okay with it. She’s not a harpy.”

Slightly confused he repeated the last word, “Harpy?”

Had he never heard of a harpy? “The word’s from Greek and Roman Mythology. Harpies were mean, birds of prey with a woman’s head.” Still confused he just stared at her. Note to self, don’t reference mythology when trying to make a point. She said aloud, “She might be okay with it. I just need to ask.”

“What if she’s not, what are we supposed to do?”

Good question. Lolly had no idea. Really she should have ventured into this territory with Grandma Toady before hand. She hadn’t though out of shyness and fear. “We will figure that out, that is if you still want to.” The thud of her heart was literally making her chest hurt.

He grabbed her hand, and said, “Of course we will and of course I do.” His smile returned. He was in, at least it seemed so. Lolly returned his smile.

They went into the cafeteria. Lisa was with Munch and Jake was with Lisa. Munch was talking and showing Jake his drawings. She heard Jake say, “Wow, man, those are really good. I had no idea.”

Munch’s face lit up. He really was incredibly talented and few realized just how good he was. When Trevor and Lolly took a seat, he said, “Bout time y’all showed up.”

Lolly waited for Munch to tease her. He didn’t. She gave him a grateful smile. With a shrug and a smirk, he returned to his drawing.

*

The usual loud hum of many voices filled the cafeteria. Lisa was already at their table, but Munch had not yet arrived. She wondered if Trevor had had a chance to talk to Jake and if Jake had talked to Lisa. When she reached the table Lisa said, “I am so happy!” She grabbed Lolly’s arm and said, “I just talked to Jake. We can so go to to Putt Putt on Saturday!”

Lolly was a bit apprehensive. What if Friday night’s date with Jake didn’t go so well?

Lisa babbled on, “I will come get you at 6:00 and then we can meet the guys at Putt Putt. After a game we will take one car and go to Dairy Queen for burgers. After that we will drive around and at 10:30 I will take you home. Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

Actually, it sounded a little bit rule bendy to Lolly, but she didn’t say so. First of all Grandma Toady had to agree with the meet up and she was not even gonna bet on how that would turn out. Lolly forced a big smile and said, “It does.”

“I know right. I can’t wait for Jake to see The Other Side of the Mountain. What if Jake falls in love with me like Mad Dog fell in love with Jill.” Her eyes got all dreamy.

Had Lisa honestly forgotten how the movie ended? A romance like Mad Dog’s and Jill’s was not something that she ever wanted. Still, she smiled and nodded while Lisa rambled on.

Finally Munch showed up. He looked slightly perturbed, but not angry. He took a seat across from the girls. Lisa said, “Guess what, Trevor asked Lolly out.”

Munch raised his eyebrows. “He did.” He swiveled his eyes to Lolly and said, “What will Grandma Toady say?”

The question was pointed. He knew what she would say! She responded, “I will find out when I ask her.”

“Right, like you don’t know already.” His words were like a dash of ice cold water.

“No, Munch,” said Lisa. “It’s not like that. Lolly and me will be meeting Jake and Trevor at Putt Putt.”

Munch shrugged. “She might be okay with that. Guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

Lolly glared at Munch and said, “Guess I will.”

*

On the ride home on the bus, Lolly and Munch didn't speak. He had slipped into one of his moods. It was the one, where she knew better than to make conversation or ask questions. It was the one, that he would or would not explain in time. When he got off at his stop she was relieved. As the bus pulled away, a couple questions occurred to her, what would it be like when she and Munch got off at the same stop? What would it be like when they went home together and she had to live with his moods? At this moment, she was thankful it was now and not then.

At the trailer, Grandma Toady had a huge quilt spread out on the living room floor.She glanced up at Lolly and said, “I can’t believe I have almost finished this thing. Its a present for your pa and Estelle.”

The quilt was beautiful. It was in soft shades of ivory and cream. It would go on their bed where they would do married things. Inside Lolly’s brain went, EWW! Aloud she said, “They will love it.”

“Yup. Its not much longer. Estelle told me she’s talked to contractor who will put in the plumbing for the trailer.”

Grandma Toady said more, but Lolly didn’t hear her. Her mind had locked on the question she had to ask. With a stab at patience, she waited for Grandma Toady to stop talking about whatever she was talking about. Finally, she paused to take a breath and said, “Trevor asked me out.”

“He did?” Grandma Toady looked up at her.

“Yes.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“That I am not allowed to date until I am sixteen.”

Grandma Toady got up off the floor. She was just a little taller than Lolly. She asked, “And how did he take that?”

“He was disappointed.” Lolly knew she needed to race to the next part before she lost her nerve. “Would it be okay if I go to Putt Putt with Lisa and we meet him and his friend Jake there?”

For several very long moments Grandma Toady studied Lolly’s face. “I would prefer a group setting, but I trust you. I know Lisa’s folks and Jake’s, so yes, you can go.”

Elated Lolly hugged Grandma Toady. “Thank you!”

Grandma Toady squeezed her tightly and said, “You are just growing up too fast.”

Though Grandma Toady said it like it was a bad thing, Lolly didn’t think it was. Smiling, she went to her room. She wished she could call Trevor now, but he was in Rosenberg at a basket ball game. He wouldn't get home until it was too late for her to talk. How she wished she could tell him!

An hour later the phone rang. Mitzi picked up. A bit too loudly, she said, "Well hello Trevor! Who do YOU want to talk to?"

Lolly swiped the phone out of Mitzi's hand. "Hey, Trevor, sorry about that." In the background was the sound of a crowd. Once again he was on a pay phone.

He said, "I only got a sec. What did your grandma say?"

"She said YES!"

"Hot Damn and praise the Lord! We are gonna have so much fun" A loud roar came from the crowd. Trevor said, "I gotta go, Coach sees me on the phone he will have my butt. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Mitzi, who still stood in the kitchen, said, "That was short."

"Yup." But it was also long enough.